Without truth there is no justice

This week the Florida Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for David Sparre. Sparre was convicted in the brutal 2010 stabbing death of 21-year-old Tiara Pool. Sparre had met his victim through the casual encounters section of craigslist in Jacksonville, Florida. The pair had sex before Sparre stabbed her almost 90 times. Sparre was convicted and then sentenced to death for Tiara’s murder. After his sentencing, Sparre sent a letter to his ex-girlfriend bragging about how he enjoyed killing Tiara. So it came as a surprise to me that an appeal of his death sentence was even being entertained.

During his trial and penalty phase Sparre instructed his attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Refik Eler, to not present any evidence in his defense. Eler, who said Sparre was guilty of second-degree murder but didn’t deserve the death penalty, planned to introduce evidence he was mentally unbalanced and abused drugs and alcohol since he was 11.

But Sparre reiterated his instructions to Circuit Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt, who ruled that Eler couldn’t present the evidence against his wishes.

On appeal Tallahassee Public Defender Nada Carey argued that Senterfitt abused her discretion by not considering all the evidence that would have kept Sparre off Death Row. She said it didn’t matter that Sparre didn’t want it brought up.

In Thursday’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling the justices said that in cases where a death-penalty defendant declined to offer a defense, the judge was required to order a comprehensive pre-sentence investigation into the that defendant’s background. That was done in Sparre’s case, with the investigation addressing his physical and mental health.

So that brings Sparre one step closer to the needle which will be infinitely more merciful than the death of Tiara Pool, a mother of one who still had her whole life in front of her. It’s too bad they won’t be able to plunge the needle into him 90 times. Hell, by the time his execution date would have rolled around I’m the country will have lost its nerve on killing monsters like Sparre.